Model 1922M2 Barrel Caliber Stamp

[RCK]

A question arose on the Rimfire Central Military Trainer forum, questioning the M1922M2 barrel stamping, "Long Rifle Cart'ge Only" which appears upside down as viewed from the left side of the rifle. I have a similarly stamped M2 barrel. Has anyone else seen this "upside down" stamping on their M1922M2 barrels? Any opinions as to how or why this might have occurred? Opinions seemed to feel that an early Monday morning stamper may be the cause.

[Dan Shapiro]

The same anomaly was noted on M1 Garand barrels. Turns out because of the layout of the work area, it all depended on whether the worker was right or left handed.

[n64atlas]

If the stamp was one piece, the worker had it upside-down. If a machine roll stamp, the stamp was inserted wrong.
Not everything is perfect on the assembly line.

[Johnny P]

As atlas indicated, the mark was applied with a roll die, and in all probability the die was installed backwards until someone caught it. The letters in the die routinely broke, requiring replacement, and it could have easily have happened at this time.

Saw pictures of an Ithaca Model 1911A1 slide with the Ithaca marking on the right side of the slide. In this case the slide was inserted with the right side up where it should have been left side up.

[Kurt]

I have seen the upside down stamping on those and more than once. No better idea why than those that have already chimed in.

[Johnny P]

The roll dies had a keyway in them to properly index the die, and some of the dies with a small stamp had multiple stamps on them with multiple keyways. In this way they could simply rotate a damaged die to a new stamp without waiting for a new one.